Two City Council members told me that Michael Bloomberg is getting directly involved committee-chairmanship assignments, and making personal appeals pushing Domenic Recchia as finance chair. It could mean that the mayor is concerned that the Council he'll be negotiating with for the next four years won't be as friendly as the previous one.
Above is a screen capture from one of the videos, shot by City Council candidate (and blogger) Rock Hackshaw.
A reader with firsthand knowledge of one of the videos called Read More
Only one member of the City Council education committee has voted against a resolution to include two holidays celebrated by Muslims as part of the list of official public school holidays.
It was Oliver Koppell, who represents the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The twelve other committee members in attendance voted in favor. Read More
Only one member of the City Council education committee has voted against a resolution to include two holidays celebrated by Muslims as part of the list of official public school holidays. It was Oliver Koppell, who represents the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The twelve other committee members in attendance voted in favor. The vote Read More
The past several weeks we once again saw the Mayor at his best and at his worst. At his worst, he berated a NY Observer reporter who raised the issue of term limits. At his best, he demonstrated the political courage to experiment with banning cars from parts of Times Read More
Here’s Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sending a warning to City Councilwoman Maria Baez.
Speaking at a dinner in Riverdale last night, Dinowitz said electing Carl Heastie as the new Bronx Democratic leader was just the beginning of changes to come.
“With his leadership, I know there are going to be many more wonderful things Read More
In continuing testimony at the City Council's budget hearing on H.H.S., Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden is defending his agency’s decision to save money by closing dental clinics for children, but not, for example, reducing funds for the anti-smoking campaign, which he said costs $5 million annually.“Compared with all of the other Read More
In case you need more evidence that term limits is the debate of the moment around City Hall, here's a panel being held next month, featuring City Councilman Oliver Koppell and Ken Moltner.
Koppell is introducing legislation that would allow city lawmakers to serve three consecutive terms, instead of just two. Moltner is a spokesman for Read More
Oliver Koppell, the City Councilman who is introducing a bill to extend term limits from a maximum of two terms to a maximum of three, said what’s happening on Wall Street helps make his case.“To have a mayor that is knowledgeable about financial matters is good," Koppell said, referring to the very real possibility Read More
Hours before John McCain gave his convention speech, some actual non-presidential news broke: Democratic City Councilman Oliver Koppell of the Bronx said he’ll introduce a bill to extend term limits.
Term limits was a major topic of conversation in the last couple of weeks, but so far no there's been no action.
I was Read More
Unlike most public officials, New York’s hard-charging attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, doesn't keep a written daily schedule.
That's according to his office, which, after two separate Freedom of Information requests from The Observer, finally said that Mr. Cuomo simply didn’t have any pre-existing documentation of his day-to-day professional and political activities that he could make public.
It's Read More
She's going to meet with the 47 other members of the Democratic conference in the City Council today at 4 p.m., which will be the first time she speaks officially with many of her colleagues about the accounting-practices scandal that she’s now spent the good part Read More
Within hours of the congestion pricing vote, a Bronx-based opponent of the plan, Ari Hoffnung, sent out an email announcing that he will run for City Council, again.
Hoffnung, who heads the Riverdale Jewish Community Relations Council, challenged Councilman Oliver Koppell in 2005 and was defeated. This year, Koppell is term-limited. Koppell voted for Read More
Kuo previously did press for Councilman Vincent Gentile, a Democrat in the conservative-leaning Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn (the same area that produced Democratic operatives George Fontas, Scott Read More
The City Council has voted down a proposal to co-name four blocks of a street in Brooklyn after black nationalist Sonny Carson. The vote was 15 for and 25 against, with seven abstentions. Notable votes: Bill De Blasio, who worked on David Dinkins' mayoral campaign with Carson, voted no. Oliver Koppell, who voted no, said Read More
